How to get free publicity for your business (feat. P. T. Barnum, Mae West & Taylor Swift)

It’s perfectly possible to raise brand awareness without spending a fortune on advertising, provided you have something interesting to say and you know how to write. Here are my top tips…

“I don’t care what the newspapers say about me, as long as they spell my name right.” These words are usually attributed to either P. T. Barnum or Mae West. Oh, and W. C. Fields sometimes gets a look-in, too. OK, the sands of time may have obscured the identity of this particular quote’s true originator, but its meaning remains as clear as ever. There’s no such thing as bad publicity.

Well, P. T. Barnum, Mae West, W. C. Fields or whoever coined this phrase… I call bullshit. History is littered with examples of businesses irreparably damaged by negative press (and, to be fair, widespread corporate wrongdoing). Every last one of these firms had its name spelt correctly by the journalists who charted its demise, and, in most cases, I imagine a little misattribution would have been welcomed with open arms. Make no mistake, bad publicity is one hundred percent real.

Even so, I am willing to concede that few things are better than good publicity – especially for smaller, less established companies. I still live in hope that Taylor Swift will one day take to Instagram to extol the virtues of a certain waterfowl-inspired content agency* (every tortured poet needs one). Sadly, the chances of a global superstar plucking your business from obscurity are fairly slim, so unless you have bags of cash to throw at influencer collaborations and advertising campaigns, I’m afraid you’ll need to put in the hard yards yourself.

With that in mind, here are a few pointers on how to get free publicity for your business.

Say something meaningful

If I could give one piece of advice to anyone looking to secure organic publicity, it would be this: be interesting! Your company’s mere existence is insufficient grounds for a press release, let alone news coverage. Journalists don’t care about your vision, mission or values (unless you’ve been caught behaving in a way that contradicts your purported ethics). Other examples of non-news stories include office renovations, website refreshes, internal training processes… The list goes on. I’m not suggesting that these milestones are unimportant. They may well be crucial to your organisation’s success, but that doesn’t make them newsworthy.

This is why focusing on gathering genuine news can pay dividends. Your first step should be to clearly define what constitutes news. Try to approach this question from an outsider’s perspective, preferably one with no prior knowledge of your business. What sort of thing will interest neutral observers, and – more importantly – which stories have the potential to turn them into active followers of your brand?

Prioritise news that’s likely to have a positive impact beyond your organisation and be explicit about what form that impact will take. If you’re launching a new product or service, explain what it means for end users rather than your business. If you’ve partnered with another brand, provide concrete examples of how this collaboration will improve the customer experience. If you have no company-specific news but your bosses are demanding you issue a press release anyway, tell them you need some ammunition. Journalists are often willing to publish the views of industry experts, provided those views are interesting. I’m not suggesting you court controversy for controversy’s sake, but bland, people-pleasing statements from CEOs do not generate column inches.

Build relationships with journalists

Chatty Duck Creative’s client base includes several multinational PR firms, and we are lucky enough to support these companies on a daily basis with high-quality press releases and other promotional materials. We’re also former journalists, so we understand what goes through an editor’s mind when deciding whether or not to run a story. Put simply, we know this sector inside out.

Naturally, the quality of the press releases you issue will play a significant role in the coverage you secure, but it’s not the only factor. You could have the most interesting news in the world, but if you fail to take the time to build relationships with members of the media, your correspondence may be overlooked.

Be prepared to play the long game. Read, watch and listen to the work of relevant journalists. When you contact them for the first time, mention something they’ve published that relates to the news you are sharing. Adopting a personalised approach will not only help media professionals understand why your release is likely to be of interest to their audience, but it will also demonstrate that they are not just another address on a mass mailing list.

You should also be willing to take no for an answer. Remember, journalists know their audience better than you, so don’t be pushy. If they decide not to run your story, thank them for their time, take on board any feedback they offer, and let them know you’ll be in touch again when you have more relevant news to share.

Don’t expect to become a trusted contact overnight. Keep plugging away and remain patient. Consistency is key.

Learn to write a great press release

Journalists with the time and inclination will occasionally sift through a poorly constructed press release to see if it contains any news. However, nine times out of ten, they won’t bother. So, if you want free publicity for your business, you’ll need to learn how to write a great release.

Find a compelling angle, tailor the content to your target audience, adopt an appropriate tone and try to cover ‘the Five Ws’ of news in your opening paragraph. Add a killer headline, a strong standfirst and a good quote, and you’ll be well on your way to securing organic coverage. If this is all new to you, don’t worry. Chatty Duck Creative has you covered with Your Guide to Writing the Perfect Press Release, a free-to-download resource that covers all the fundamentals from the ideal structure to common mistakes that should be avoided at all costs.

Alternatively, if you’d rather enlist some outside support, you can book a discovery call with a member of our team. We’ve got a long modestly sized list of ex-lovers existing clients. They’ll tell you we’re insane pretty good at what we do. But we’ve got a blank space, baby. And we’ll write your name.

* Feel free to DM us for some top tips, Tay Tay. 🤙

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